The table-top visual search ability test for children and young people: normative response time data from typically developing children

Five table-top tasks were developed to test the visual search ability of children and young people in a real-world context, and to assess the transfer of training related improvements in visual search on computerised tasks to real-world activities. Each task involved searching for a set of target objects among distracting objects on a table-top. Performance on the Table-top Visual Search Ability Test for Children (TVSAT-C) was measured as the time spent searching for targets divided by the number of targets found. 108 typically developing children (3-11 years old) and 8 children with vision impairment (7-12 years old) participated in the study. A significant correlation was found between log-transformed age and log-transformed performance (R^2=0.65, p=4×〖10〗^(-26)) in our normative sample, indicating a monomial power law relationship between age and performance with an exponent of -1.67, 95% "CI" [-1.90,-1.43]. We calculated age-dependent percentiles and receiver operating characteristic curve analysis indicated the 3rd percentile as the optimal cut-off for detecting a visual search deficit, giving a specificity of 97.2%, 95% "CI" [92.2%,99.1%] and sensitivity of 87.5%, 95% "CI" [52.9%,97.8%] for the test. Further studies are required to calculate measures of reliability and external validity, to confirm sensitivity for visual search deficits, and to investigate the most appropriate response modes for participants with conditions that affect manual dexterity. Additionally, more work is needed to assess construct validity where semantic knowledge is required that younger children may not have experience with. We have made the protocol and age-dependent normative data available for those interested in using the test in research or practice, and to illustrate the smooth developmental trajectory of visual search ability during childhood

Retrieval practice transfer effects for multielement event triplets

Retrieval practice (RP) leads to improved retention relative to re-exposure and is considered a robust phenomenon when the final test conditions are identical to RP conditions. However, the extent to which RP ‘transfers' to related material is less clear. Here, we tested for RP transfer effects under conditions known to induce integration of associated material at encoding, which may make transfer more likely. Participants learned multielement triplets (locations, animals and objects) and one pairwise association from each triplet was tested through RP, re-exposed, or not re-exposed (control). Two days later participants completed a final test of all pairwise associations. We found no evidence for an RP effect compared to re-exposure, but both tested/re-exposed pairs were better remembered than the not re-exposed control condition. We also found that transfer occurred from both tested to untested and re-exposed to not re-exposed pairs. Our results highlight that RP and re-exposure can boost retention for directly tested/re-exposed event pairs and associated but untested/not re-exposed event pairs, suggesting re-exposure of integrated information can be of pedagogical value. The results also question the boundary conditions for an increase in retention for RP relative to re-exposure, highlighting the need for a better theoretical understanding of RP effects

Spaced Retrieval Practice: Can Restudying Trump Retrieval?

We investigated spaced retrieval and restudying in 3 preregistered, online experiments. In all experiments, participants studied 40 Swahili–English word pair translations during an initial study phase, restudied intact pairs or attempted to retrieve the English words to Swahili cues twice in three spaced practice sessions, and then completed a final cued-recall test. All 5 sessions were separated by 2 days. In Experiment 1, we manipulated the response format during retrieval (covert vs. overt) and the test list structure (blocked vs. intermixed covert/overt retrieval trials). A memory rating was required on all trials (retrieval: “Was your answer correct?”; restudy: “Would you have remembered the correct translation?”). Response format had no effect on recall, but surprisingly, final test performance for restudied items exceeded both the overt and covert retrieval conditions. In Experiment 2, we manipulated the requirement to make a memory rating. If a memory rating was required, final test restudy performance exceeded retrieval performance, replicating Experiment 1. However, the pattern was descriptively reversed if no rating was required. In Experiment 3, the memory rating was removed altogether, and we examined recall performance for items restudied versus retrieved once, twice, or thrice. Performance improved with practice, and retrieval performance exceeded restudy performance in all conditions. The reversal of the typical retrieval practice effect observed in Experiments 1 and 2 is discussed in terms of theories of reactivity of memory judgments

What over 1,000,000 participants tell us about online research protocols

With the ever-increasing adoption of tools for online research, for the first time we have visibility on macro-level trends in research that were previously unattainable. However, until now this data has been siloed within company databases and unavailable to researchers. Between them, the online study creation and hosting tool Gorilla Experiment Builder and the recruitment platform Prolific hold metadata gleaned from millions of participants and over half a million studies. We analyzed a subset of this data (over 1 million participants and half a million studies) to reveal critical information about the current state of the online research landscape that researchers can use to inform their own study planning and execution. We analyzed this data to discover basic benchmarking statistics about online research that all researchers conducting their work online may be interested to know. In doing so, we identified insights related to: the typical study length, average completion rates within studies, the most frequent sample sizes, the most popular participant filters, and gross participant activity levels. We present this data in the hope that it can be used to inform research choices going forward and provide a snapshot of the current state of online research

A network of change: three priorities requiring united action on research integrity

The last decade has seen renewed concern within the scientific community over the reproducibility and transparency of research findings. This paper outlines the various responsibilities of stakeholders in addressing the systemic issues that contribute to this concern. In particular, this paper asserts that a united, joined up approach is needed, in which all stakeholders, including researchers, universities, funders, publishers, and the UKRI, work together to set standards of research integrity and engender scientific progress and innovation

A network of change: united action on research integrity

The last decade has seen renewed concern within the scientific community over the reproducibility and transparency of research findings. This paper outlines some of the various responsibilities of stakeholders in addressing the systemic issues that contribute to this concern. In particular, this paper asserts that a united, joined-up approach is needed, in which all stakeholders, including researchers, universities, funders, publishers, and governments, work together to set standards of research integrity and engender scientific progress and innovation. Using two developments as examples: the adoption of Registered Reports as a discrete initiative, and the use of open data as an ongoing norm change, we discuss the importance of collaboration across stakeholders

Selenium metabolism in cancer cells: The combined application of XAS and XFM techniques to the problem of selenium speciation in biological systems

Determining the speciation of selenium in vivo is crucial to understanding the biological activity of this essential element, which is a popular dietary supplement due to its anti-cancer properties. Hyphenated techniques that combine separation and detection methods are traditionally and effectively used in selenium speciation analysis, but require extensive sample preparation that may affect speciation. Synchrotron-based X-ray absorption and fluorescence techniques offer an alternative approach to selenium speciation analysis that requires minimal sample preparation. We present a brief summary of some key HPLC-ICP-MS and ESI-MS/MS studies of the speciation of selenium in cells and rat tissues. We review the results of a top-down approach to selenium speciation in human lung cancer cells that aims to link the speciation and distribution of selenium to its biological activity using a combination of X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and X-ray fluorescence microscopy (XFM). The results of this approach highlight the distinct fates of selenomethionine, methylselenocysteine and selenite in terms of their speciation and distribution within cells: organic selenium metabolites were widely distributed throughout the cells, whereas inorganic selenium metabolites were compartmentalized and associated with copper. New data from the XFM mapping of electrophoretically-separated cell lysates show the distribution of selenium in the proteins of selenomethionine-treated cells. Future applications of this top-down approach are discussed.Claire M. Weekley, Jade B. Aitken, Lydia Finney, Stefan Vogt, Paul K. Witting, and Hugh H. Harri

Effects of water quality, sanitation, handwashing, and nutritional interventions on diarrhoea and child growth in rural Kenya: a cluster-randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Poor nutrition and exposure to faecal contamination are associated with diarrhoea and growth faltering, both of which have long-term consequences for child health. We aimed to assess whether water, sanitation, handwashing, and nutrition interventions reduced diarrhoea or growth faltering. METHODS: The WASH Benefits cluster-randomised trial enrolled pregnant women from villages in rural Kenya and evaluated outcomes at 1 year and 2 years of follow-up. Geographically-adjacent clusters were block-randomised to active control (household visits to measure mid-upper-arm circumference), passive control (data collection only), or compound-level interventions including household visits to promote target behaviours: drinking chlorinated water (water); safe sanitation consisting of disposing faeces in an improved latrine (sanitation); handwashing with soap (handwashing); combined water, sanitation, and handwashing; counselling on appropriate maternal, infant, and young child feeding plus small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements from 6-24 months (nutrition); and combined water, sanitation, handwashing, and nutrition. Primary outcomes were caregiver-reported diarrhoea in the past 7 days and length-for-age Z score at year 2 in index children born to the enrolled pregnant women. Masking was not possible for data collection, but analyses were masked. Analysis was by intention to treat. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01704105. FINDINGS: Between Nov 27, 2012, and May 21, 2014, 8246 women in 702 clusters were enrolled and randomly assigned an intervention or control group. 1919 women were assigned to the active control group; 938 to passive control; 904 to water; 892 to sanitation; 917 to handwashing; 912 to combined water, sanitation, and handwashing; 843 to nutrition; and 921 to combined water, sanitation, handwashing, and nutrition. Data on diarrhoea at year 1 or year 2 were available for 6494 children and data on length-for-age Z score in year 2 were available for 6583 children (86% of living children were measured at year 2). Adherence indicators for sanitation, handwashing, and nutrition were more than 70% at year 1, handwashing fell to less than 25% at year 2, and for water was less than 45% at year 1 and less than 25% at year 2; combined groups were comparable to single groups. None of the interventions reduced diarrhoea prevalence compared with the active control. Compared with active control (length-for-age Z score -1·54) children in nutrition and combined water, sanitation, handwashing, and nutrition were taller by year 2 (mean difference 0·13 [95% CI 0·01-0·25] in the nutrition group; 0·16 [0·05-0·27] in the combined water, sanitation, handwashing, and nutrition group). The individual water, sanitation, and handwashing groups, and combined water, sanitation, and handwashing group had no effect on linear growth. INTERPRETATION: Behaviour change messaging combined with technologically simple interventions such as water treatment, household sanitation upgrades from unimproved to improved latrines, and handwashing stations did not reduce childhood diarrhoea or improve growth, even when adherence was at least as high as has been achieved by other programmes. Counselling and supplementation in the nutrition group and combined water, sanitation, handwashing, and nutrition interventions led to small growth benefits, but there was no advantage to integrating water, sanitation, and handwashing with nutrition. The interventions might have been more efficacious with higher adherence or in an environment with lower baseline sanitation coverage, especially in this context of high diarrhoea prevalence. FUNDING: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, United States Agency for International Development